A TEENAGER who died of a drugs overdose just one day after being imprisoned for manslaughter had previously tried to hang herself.

Pauline Campbell, of Market Place, Hampton, near Malpas, told an inquest into the death of her daughter Sarah, 18, her daughter was given oxygen after the incident at Styal prison as she awaited a trial date.

Sarah Campbell and co-accused Kim Woolley were eventually sentenced to three and four-and-a-half years respectively after they mugged Amrit Bhandari, 72, from Sealand, outside Chester's Odeon cinema, triggering a fatal heart attack in May 2002.

Sarah, a heroin addict identified as a suicide risk, expressed fear of reprisals from her co-defendant and was put into a segregation cell at Styal.

When a nurse entered the cell to dispense her medication on January 18, 2003, she found Sarah 'very ill' after taking a large quantity of tablets, apparently smuggled into the prison.

She was taken by ambulance to Wythenshawe hospital where she died that evening. A post-mortem examination revealed toxic levels of a prescribed drug in her bloodstream.

Ms Campbell, a retired lecturer, whose daughter died just three days before her 19th birthday, asked for a minute's silence to remember her daughter who she said was above average intelligence, artistic and a talented tennis player.

A tearful Ms Campbell told the inquest at Warrington Town Hall: 'Sarah was my only child and my only family. Her loss has been unbearable to me and I need an explanation as to how this could have been allowed to happen.'

Ms Campbell recalled taking her daughter home from the police station after she was first arrested over the death of Mr Bhandari. She attempted to suffocate herself and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.

Sarah was later arrested on suspicion of murder but was eventually charged with manslaughter. She was refused bail and remained at HM Prison Styal on remand on the 'wait and see wing'.

During this period Ms Campbell raised concerns with staff about daughter due to the deterioration in her mental state and incidents of self-harming.

'My experience was they would listen, say that something would be done but I didn't feel reassured, I didn't feel anything was really being done,' she said.

Ms Campbell wrote to the governor citing professional advice that Sarah would benefit from being in a therapeutic setting. She was also concerned that appointments with the psychiatrist were being missed and that 'promised' art and occupational therapy sessions had not been delivered.

Ms Campbell also wrote to the governor about the convulsions her daughter was experiencing and asked for a neurological referral but was told in a reply that she would be 'monitored'.

In several letters Sarah expressed desperation at her situation and reduced visiting entitlement. Ms Campbell passed these concerns on to a member of Styal's suicidal awareness team.

Ms Campbell said on November 25 her daughter was finally bailed into her care. She said her daughter, who was prescribed anti-depressants, became extremely distressed about the thought of returning to Styal.

'She seemed to be in a state of sheer terror about going back to prison,' said Ms Campbell, who said her daughter feared reprisals after giving evidence against her co-accused Woolley.

Ms Campbell - who, the inquest heard, was threatened with a knife by her daughter shortly before her trial - said Sarah was prescribed diazepam which she administered on her behalf. Had she known her other prescribed drug involved in her overdose was so toxic she would have overseen its use as well.

Speaking about the sentence handed out to her daughter the day before her death, she commented: 'They were found guilty of manslaughter uniquely on the basis that they had harassed Mr Bhandari and that this had caused his death.'